Gymnasium-ladder.



M. B. REACH. GYMNASIUM LADDER. APPLIGATION FILED APR. 1.1909.

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GYMNASIUM LADDER. APPLIOATION FILED APR.1,1909.

Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

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MILTON B. REACH, OF SPRNGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.-

GYIvNASUM-LADDER.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, MILTON B. REACH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springeld, Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful improvements in Gymnasium-Ladders, of which the following is aspeciiication.

My invention relates to gymnasium apparatus, and particularly to agymnasium ladder, my object being to provide a construction which willfacilitate the adjustment oi the ladder to diiierent inclined positionsor to a horizontal position, or to enable the ladder to be set uprightaway from the wall or set close against the wall in vertical positionwhen not in use.

The invention consists in the features and combination and arrangementof parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of theinvention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and Fig. 3 is a plan vieu'.

ln these drawings, 1 'indicates a ladder suitable lor gymnasium use,said ladder beingl pivotally connected at its upper end by a pivot bar 2to a cross head adapted to have vertical movement, and comprisingforwardly extending bracket arms 3 connected by cross bars at top andbottom, said cross bars being marked i and 5, inclined braces G beingprovided to strengthen the cross head or bracket. The cross head slidesupon two tubular uprights 7 and S attached by clips or brackets 9 and1() to a board 11 which is tiXed in any suitable manner to the wall, andat their lower ends the tubular bars are held to a cross bar 12 bysockets 13. ctween Vthe tubular nprights a weight inclosing casing 14-is arranged within which is adapted to slide a coiinterbalance weight 15connected by a rope 1G with the sliding cross head, the said rope beingattached to the cross head at 1T and passing up over a pulley 1Ssupported on a plate or bracket 19 attached to the supporting board ormember 11 at the top of the structure. rlhis counterweightcounterbalances the weight ot the ladder, and the arrangement is suchthat the ladder may be adjusted by a boy.

ln adjusting` the ladder to different inelinations or to a horizontalposition, the cross head is lowered troni theposition shown in Fig. 1,in t'ull lines, to the desired point, such, for instance, as shown indotted Specification o Letters Patent.

Application filed April 1, 1909.

Serial No. l7,196.

lines in said ligure. in order to control the adjustment of the ladder,and to lock it in any position to which it may be adjusted, l provide aieXible connection, as a ropev 20,

attached to the cross head at 21 and passing up over a pair of pulleys22,23, -mounted at the top ot' the structure, the rope thenpassing-downwardly through an eyev 24 of the toggle lever or arm 25, therope thence passing under a pulley 26 journaled in one of the socketpieces 18 at the lower part of the structure, and extending thenceupwardly, where it is connected with the outer end ot' the toggle arm orlever 25, as shown in Fig. 1. ln order to adjust the ladder, the togglearm or lever 25 is raised to a substantially horizontal position, sothat the main portion of the rope is free to slip through the inner eyeof the toggle arm, and the cross head, together with the pivoted end ofthe ladder, may then be raised or lowered while manipulating the mainpart of the rope, and when the desired position of the cross head andladder has been reached, the toggle arm or lever will be allowed toassume its .normal inclined' position, as shown in Fig. Y1, when it willkink and grip the rope and hold it against further movement upwardly ordownwardly, and the cross head, together with the pivoted end of theladder, will thus be maintained in the position to which it is adjusted.

The free end of the ladder may be set in a suitable iioor plate as at27, or it may be made to rest upon a cross bar 2S set at any desiredelevation and supported by the posts 29 of the supporting iframe 8O.

The ladder may be inade to assume a vertical. position at the outer endsot the bracket arms et' the cross head, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may beset close to the wall 'lor storage when not in use. For this purpose thecross bar 2 at the upper end oi the ladder has its ends passing throughslots 31 formed in the bracket arms of the cross head., said slotshaving recesses or depressions at both their outer and inner ends, sothat, when the ladder is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the cross bar2 will have dropped into the outer recesses or depressions in thebracket arms, whereas, when it is desired to store the ladder out ot theway against the wall, it is first slightly lifted to raise the cross baror pivots from the outer recesses oifthe bracket arms, and the ladder isthen pushed toward vthe vall, its pivot sliding in the horizontalPatented Aug. 31, i909.

slots of the bracketarms and finally dropping into the inner recesses ornotches at the ends of the horizontal slots so that the ladder will thenbe maintained in vertical position close against the wall.

TWhile I have described above the structure best known to me forcarrying out the principle of my invention, it will be understood that Ido not limit myself to this preoise construction, as this may be variedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

It will be seen that my adjusting device consists or' a flexible memberconnected to the cross head or ladder support at one end, passing overand under pulleys and returning upon itself, its other extremity havingthereon means to grip or connect with the main part ot the flexibleconnection, and it vill be understood that I do not limit myself eitherto the character ot this flexible connection or to the gripping orconnecting means between the end thereof and the main portion.

"What I claim is l. In combination a ladder, a sliding cross head, apivotal connection between the ladder and cross head, a guide pulleyfixed of uprights on which the cross head slides, a counterbalanceweight moving between the two uprights and connected with the crosshead, a centrally disposed upper pulley and an upper pulley disposedlaterally in respect thereto and to the ladder, a laterally disposedlower pulley, a rope passing from the cross head up over the centrallydisposed pulley thence laterally over the second upper Jul-l w. and thendown and around the lower i 1 puil v, and means for adpistablyconnecting the free end of the rope with the main part of the rope,substantially as described.

lIn testimony whereof, I al'iix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

MILTON B. REACH. I'Vitnesses MAY Jamison, C. H. KILPATRICK.

